And now it's time to go back.

Yesterday I made a small child cry. That's not a nice feeling.

I had been sharing my Grain Waves (most generously) with my nieces and nephews. They'd come over, get a handful and then go back to their play. Ruby, the 2 year old, had got a tiny little plate off her mum and had come back for a plateful. I poured them in (accidentally giving her almost all that was left). The toddled away happy. Then, by the time she got back, they were all gone. She held her plate up to me with expectant eyes, but I said to her, 'No more!' in a rather expressive voice.

She misinterpreted that as some kind of scolding and ran away. She actually hid behind the curtain, she was so upset. Oops.

We made up later on and played a game where I pointed at pictures and she told me who was in them (I think she did, couldn't really understand her). Then she walked around with a Sponge Bob poster that had come out of the magazine I'd given her sister, and kept trying to press it against the wall.... She looked most perturbed that it would not stay there. I tried to explain she needed 'sticky stuff' but I think it was lost on her.

* * *

I observed her sister, who was turning 10, being a typical older-sibling. She'd gotten a hand-held game of some sort for her birthday. She sat happily playing it most of the time I was there. Her cousin joined in every now and then.... Meanwhile her younger brother sat forlornly on the other side of the room, every now and then saying, 'Can I have a turn?' He got the whole raft of excuses and put-offs from her, most of which started with 'I just have to.....' (insert an aspect of the game, which seemed to change every time he asked).

The adults didn't want to tell her off on her birthday, but they tried every angle in the book to try to get her to share with her little brother, who as they pointed out had been waiting 'very patiently'. She defended herself with '... but he had a turn this morning!' (it now being 3pm).

Eventually I, being a more impatient secondary-teacher, sat watching her and ensured that once she had 'just' done the level she said she wanted to finish, she handed it over. None of this PC crap of waiting until she realises it's the right thing to do on her own.... I'm a younger sibling too! I felt Finn's pain.

* * *

Then it was night-flying. If you drove past Lyall Bay and saw a few crazy people running around the beach at 8pm last night flying a kite..... it was us. We had flasks of hot chocolate. It was fun. I am now good enough to mock and laugh at the new flyers who nose-dive poor bumble into the ground seconds after takeoff. I am most unkind and mocking. Last night it was Kyle and Marty, neither of whom (being athletic men) liked not being experts straight away (and having mere girls show them up).

* * *

Have had lots of cups of tea and coffee and hot chocolate this weekend.

1. Coffee at a cafe in Plimmerton to wake me up on the way to Saturday morning kite-flying (my eyelids were very heavy)

2. Coffee at Raumati en route to the beach to kite-fly (the other coffee had almost worn off)

3. Cup of tea at Hannah's birthday

4. Hot chocolate on the beach in a flask

5. Cup of Jarrah's coffee for lunch (with a Whittaker's bar dipped in)

6. Cup of tea after dinner (with sugar)

I have missed a few.